le champagne expliqué mot par mot

Purchase of champagne and wine sales of champagne at the best price / quality ratio.

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Champagne Lexicon

Even if the words can never completely retranscribe the intense complexity of a feeling, they are nevertheless the invaluable allied ones when comes the moment to share this passion which links us. Here, the universe and the history of champagne are told with the letters of the alphabet.

A

Assembly :

The principle of development of the Champagne wine consists in carrying out an assembly, i.e. to mix various type of vines, vintages and years to obtain a product balanced and constant instead of vinifying only one year as in the other wine areas.

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B

Balthazar :

12 L soit l'équivalent de 16 bouteilles

Blanc de Blancs :

nontraditional assembly, it is a wine resulting from only white type of vine, the chardonnay, which gives a champagne with fresh and delicate taste.
Nos bouteilles de Champagne Blanc de Blancs

Blanc de Noirs :

nontraditional also, elaborate assembly starting from black grapes, Pinot Black or Meunier and characterized by the force of the first one and/or the fruity one of the Meunier. Among the "white of blacks" mono-type of vines, it is much more frequent to find one 100 % Pinot Noir than one 100 % Meunier. Pinot Meunier is forsaken, and is not from now on majority any more in surface. Only the great Krug house continues to testify to qualities of this type of vine.
Nos bouteilles de Champagne Blanc de Noirs, Nos Champagne Krug

Brut :

the champagne more running nowadays (approximately 80% of the production); the sugar content of dose is lower than 15 G/liter; not to confuse with "natural Crude", which is a champagne not proportioned, i.e. whose dose does not contain any sugar absolutely.

Brut Nature :

champagne not proportioned, i.e. whose dose does not contain any sugar absolutely. The residual sugar content must be lower than 3 grams per liter.

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C

Chardonnay :

white type of vine, it gives smoothness and elegance to champagne. Chardonnay represents approximately the quarter of planted surface. Used only, this type of vine gives the “lBanc de Blancs “champagne.
Nos bouteilles de Champagne Blanc de Blancs

CM :

Co-operative of handling. They are wines elaborate and sold by a union of producers.

Col :

750 ml bottle

Coupe :

the champagne cup is to be banished to taste champagne: its very open form lets escape the flavours and limit the formation from foam in glass

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D

Dégorgement :

operation which consists, after fermentation, to expel the lies which accumulated in the bottle. At the time of the filling of the bottles after assembly, one adds a drawn-off liquid, mixes yeasts and sugars, to start the second fermentation; the bottles are then arranged on desks, collar turned to the bottom, to concentrate the deposit there. After ageing, one drives out this deposit by freezing the end of the bottle: the gas of the bottle expels the deposit, and the bottles are ready to receive dose to compensate for the loss of volume due to discharging.

Demi sec :

proportioning of dose between 33 and 50 grams per liter. Champagne more formerly appreciated, it fell in disuse to the profit from the crude.
Nos bouteilles de Champagne Sec et Demi-sec

Doux :

proportioning of dose higher than 50 grams per liter. Champagne sweetened to reserve in accompaniment of dessert.

Dosage :

sugar content of dose (see below).

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E

Extra dry :

proportioning of dose between 12 and 20 grams per liter.

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F

Champagne Flute :

ideal container to taste champagne. Its form makes it possible the bubbles to go up along glass and its opening to concentrate the flavours. The flute should never be filled with more of two thirds, to let be expressed the wine.

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J

Jéroboam :

3 L soit 4 bouteilles.

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L

Dose :

After discharging, the loss of volume which results from the expulsion of the deposit is compensated by a dose which gives a part of its character to champagne. It is indeed the dose which determines the taste more or less sweetened of a champagne. In the case of the "Natural Crude", the dose is replaced by wine, without sugar addition.

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M

MA :

Mark of purchaser (Marque d'Acheteur). A tradesman asked a trader to affix his own mark on bottles which it bought.

Magnum :

1,5 L soit 2 bouteilles. L'expérience montre que le vin de Champagne se conserve mieux dans un magnum, il y vieillit plus lentement, assurant au nectar une excellente longévité. Un magnum de champagne déçoit rarement et il est recommandé au-delà de quatre convives.
nos magnums de Champagne

Mathusalem :

6 L soit 8 bouteilles.

Vintage

it is the choice of the Houses of millésimer a champagne of quality which often presents an atypical character compared to the style of the house. The vintage ones generally constitute for the Champagne Houses a window and a means of making known their production.

Muselet:

metal cage retaining the stopper, to prevent that this one is not expelled by gases contained in the bottle. The plate affixed between the muselet and the stopper avoids with the muselet being inserted in cork.

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N

Nabuchodonosor :

15 L soit 20 bouteilles.

ND :

Trader distributor. It is a trader who buys bottles finished with other operators, and markets them under its own mark.

NM :

Handling trader. Champagne houses which work out and market their wine. The majority has vineyards, but buys also the grape of local producers.

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P

Pinot Meunier :

black grape with colourless pulp, harvested a little later as Black Pinot. Representing 37 % of planted surface, it gives a wine close to Pinot Noir but fruitier and with an aptitude of more reduced guard. Its surface tends to decrease.

Pinot Noir :

black grape with colourless pulp. It also occupies 37 % of planted surface. It gives however a white juice because the skins do not have time to tint the juice at the time of pressing. The wine which is extract is framed and has a fine bouquet.

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Q

quarter bottle

small bottle of a capacity of 18,75 or 20 Cl (regularly used by the airline companies and sometimes in the night clubs... with a straw!)

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R

RC :

Collecting co-operator. The wine grower entrusts his grapes to his co-operative so that it works out the wine, then recovers whole or part of the bottles finished to market them.

RM :

Collecting handling. Gather the whole of the vine growers who work out and market their own vintages starting from their only grape: they are the only "small producers".

Réhoboam :

4,5 L soit 6 bouteilles.

Rosé :

The Rosé champagne is sometimes worked out by "bleeding". Colouring comes from a temporary fermentation with pulps, followed of a pressing, which allows the extraction of the tannins and dyes of the skin. Generally out of Champagne, the rosy one is obtained by mixture of the quiet red wine (noneffervescent) to the effervescent white wine. The rosy ones, for which the demand has been keener for a few years, represent less than 5 % of the production.

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S

To sand:

with XVIIe and XVIIIe centuries, one sanded the champagne, i.e. one put of the caster sugar on the bottom of glass to make it foam. While making react sugar and alcohol, the vine growers of the time, who controlled fermentation badly, could thus obtain bubbles.

To sabre:

operation which consists in opening the champagne bottle while making slip a blade of sabre towards the neck of the bottle and "to decapitate it". The shock must be carried with the side not slicing of the blade, and this operation must be undertaken with precaution, the neck of the bottle being ejected with a great force.